


Recovery

by lostintheclouds321



Series: Flash as a Complex Character [2]
Category: Spider-Man (Tom Holland Movies)
Genre: Bully Flash Thompson, Can be read on its own, Flash Thompson Bullies Peter Parker, Flash Thompson Redemption, Flash Thompson is an influencer, Gen, If you leave a comment I’ll love you forever, Mentions of Suicide, Ned Leeds is a Good Bro, POV switches between flash and peter, Redemption, Superiority Complex, YouTube, flash centric, obviously, themes of bullying
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-02-02
Updated: 2020-02-02
Packaged: 2021-02-25 14:27:34
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 2,869
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/22497589
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/lostintheclouds321/pseuds/lostintheclouds321
Summary: Spider-Man speaks publicly about his experiences with being bullied.Flash starts to regret what he's done.[One shot, no correlation with previous works]
Relationships: Peter Parker & Flash Thompson, Peter Parker & Tony Stark
Series: Flash as a Complex Character [2]
Series URL: https://archiveofourown.org/series/1618684
Comments: 17
Kudos: 412





	Recovery

**Author's Note:**

> tw// at one point spidey thinks someone is gonna jump off a roof, they aren't/weren't going to but just in case, loves <3

Flash liked to consider himself a ‘social-media guy.’ He knew all of the ins-and-outs of Instagram. He could list off hashtags like nobody’s business. He knew which images to use to get views.

He could subtly flash a sponsorship like he’d been born to do it and he knew just how much ‘on-brand’ stuff to wear to peak interest while not being overly annoying.

Online, he was definitely one of the coolest people out there. No one, not even Penis Parker, could take that from him. His vlogs were legendary and his other accounts showed off the best of his incredible life.

Of course, that didn’t mean he did it all for the clout. It was also a nice release to have. He could spout off his opinions and people would _agree_ with him. He couldn’t really get that anywhere else. Teachers only put up with him because of his dad, his ‘friends’ would dumbly nod their heads without actually processing anything he said, and his parents were always too busy to listen to him.

When he was on the internet, he felt heard.

This is why, when he heard about the _genuine_ Spider-Man YouTube video -which had been posted on an untraceable, brand new account- he had to live stream his reaction of it.

He set himself up at his desk with his laptop and his phone; with barely any announcement to his fans, he started to stream.

He rushed through his intro, projected the video onto his vlog and pressed play.

“What if the account gets tracked, Ned?” Peter asked, a bit loudly, he’d been feeling a bit stressed with Ned’s whole YouTube video idea.

Flash had been a bit pushy recently, in more ways than one, and by the end of the day, Ned had come up with this idea.

His friend quickly shrugged off Peter’s protests, “No way, bro. Did you forget who you’ve got on your side?”

“How is Iron Man gonna help me?” Peter asked jokingly.

“Wrong answer, Pete! You’ve got me, a Grade A Hacker,” he said proudly and Peter started laughing.

“I know, I know, I’m just messing. But I don’t think this is really gonna do anything. And I’ve told you before, Spider-Man isn’t a-“

“He isn’t a party trick, don’t worry I got that part. But this would be so much more. Think of all the other kids, Peter. Your fan demographic tends to fall pretty young. You’re totally underestimating how much Spider-Man means to people.”

Peter let out a sigh, “Fine, I’ll do it. But we have to make sure it isn’t cringey like those Captain America PSA’s, promise?”

Ned smiled wide and gave Peter a big hug, “I promise.”

“Hey, everyone! You probably know me as Spider-Man and I’m- oh, I should prove it?” the hero asked of someone off screen. He took a few steps backwards and did a flip, “That should be enough, right?”

There was some mumbling from behind camera, “Come on, ----, it should be fine,” there was a loud beep where presumably someone else’s name had been, “Anyway, we decided to make this video on a whim but for an important reason: bullying.”

“Did you know that one out of every five students report that they’re being bullied? And that’s not even counting those who don’t come forward. Bullying can happen anywhere. People who get bullied can go through depression, anxiety, and there is a strong correlation between bullying and suicide.”

Here, the hero took a pause.

“I could keep spitting out facts and trivia all day. But there is a reason why this matter is so important to me. When I was in high school, I was bullied, almost every day. The teachers didn’t notice, my peers didn’t care, and if it weren’t for my family and friends, I don’t want to think about where I would be right now.”

Spider-Man went on to talk about more of his personal experiences while Flash watched in shock. There was a turning feeling in his gut and suddenly he didn’t want to be online anymore. A rare feeling, indeed.

Ignoring all of the comments, he turned off the live stream and let himself fall fully into his chair.

He kept watching.

“Bullying can be a hard matter to approach, it’s not exactly something society likes to think about. But that doesn’t mean it doesn’t happen. Being bullied was one of the hardest things for me to go through and I don’t want anyone else to go through it.”

“Unfortunately,” the hero added with a sad laugh, “I can’t stop bullying all by myself, I wish I could, believe me. We need to get rid of bullying together.”

“It doesn’t matter who you are, whether you’re the one getting bullied, a bystander, or a bully, we can only make progress if we learn to overcome this. If you’re getting bullied or see someone getting bullied, tell your teachers or adults who care about you. And if you are a bully, think about _why_ you’re doing what you’re doing and remember, it’s never too late to try and make amends.”

Flash had to pause the video. He wasn’t sure if he could watch anymore. The thought of people hurting Spider-Man like that made him feel sick.

His heart was thundering in his chest. Spider-Man had been bullied. But how? His mind demanded, he was a hero, he had super strength, he was smart, people _listened_ to him when he spoke.

And why? His mind continued. Why would anyone want to bully someone as selfless as Spider-Man? What kind of person could be so cruel as to bully someone for no- _Him_. He was the kind of person who would bully for no reason.

He’d been doing it to Peter through all of high school. He was as bad as the people who hurt Spider-Man. His heart twisted and curled in on itself. Did this make him a villain? What was he going to do now?

Peter was nothing, if not confused. His day had, for some reason, been going well.

Instead of the usual glares and cruel comments, Flash had been practically ignoring him.

They shared a lot of classes together and Flash had been uncharacteristically quiet in all of them.

It didn’t begin to make sense until he brought it up to Ned, “Hey,” he whispered in the middle of chemistry, “What do you think is up with Flash today?”

Ned looked at him, a bit confused, “I haven’t noticed anything.”

“Exactly!” Peter hissed, “There must be something going on. This is probably the first day _ever_ that he hasn’t been a complete asshole.”

Ned didn’t have anything to say about that until after their class was done, “Holy shit, Peter. What if it was our video?” he said, clearly excited.

“Our, video?” Peter asked, a bit befuddled, “You mean the Spider-Man video we made a few days ago?”

“Yeah! I don’t know why I didn’t think about it, but I posted it just last night! And we all know that Flash is the biggest Spider-Man fan,” Ned said, his words coming at a mile a minute.

Peter pursed his lips, “I dunno man, it just doesn’t seem like a big MO for him. Being a Spider-Man fan has never stopped him before, and the whole point of being a hero is to watch out for the little guy. Why hasn’t Flash gotten that before?”

“Maybe Flash just didn’t totally understand it in the real world ‘till now,” Ned offered.

But Peter had a hard time believing him. It was just a video, he couldn’t see it really making a difference in anyone’s lives.

Flash clenched his hands in his pockets as he watched Parker leave the school building. He _had_ to do this. If he didn’t, the regret would probably build up until he burst.

He looked down to check the time on his phone and when he looked back up, the other teen was ducking into an alley to answer his ringing phone.

“Hey, Mr. Stark, what did you want?” Parker asked, and Flash couldn’t believe he was still trying to make people believe he had that internship. But, wait, he was in an empty alley, who would he be trying to prove it to? Flash’s stomach turned, he’d been accusing him of lying about something completely true. Just another reason, Flash’s bullying had been completely nonsensical. And judging from the phone call, Peter was actually a high ranking intern.

“Oh, I’m not sure I can come today, does tomorrow work?” he said apologetically; and had Flash just hear Peter Parker _turn down_ Tony freaking Stark? There was a pause on Peter’s side and then, “Hm? What did you want to talk about?”

“Wait, you saw the video?” the teen exclaimed a bit loudly before lowering his voice, “I mean, why? Did you watch the whole thing?’

Flash watched as Peter got paler and paler, “Haha, well about that-“ he stopped abruptly, “I could handle it, I _was_ handling it.” Another pause, “Yeah, since Freshman year and no, I’m not giving you his name, Mr. Stark. You’d probably blacklist him from like, everywhere.”

He was starting to have a sinking suspicion that Parker was talking about _him_ to Tony Stark, “No one deserves that!” the teen rolled his eyes at whatever Stark was saying, “The video was all Ned’s idea anyway, I just had to do the talking, y’know. And wear the mask, I guess.” 

Flash’s brain turned and turned. Wear the mask? Was- Had that whole video been a fake? It had been Parker the whole time? His chest flooded with anger, stupid Penis Parker had made him feel like trash for _nothing_.

Spider-Man _hadn’t_ been bullied. Spider-Man hadn’t even made a YouTube channel. It all been those two freaks. No wonder, they had no other friends and probably nothing better to do with their lives.

The teen was just about ready to storm into the alleyway before Peter started changing out of his clothes. What the hell? Parker really was a weirdo.

Flash looked away for a second, he really didn’t need to see any of that. But when he looked back there was none other than Spider-Man. No, it was Peter. He was just wearing a stupid, oddly detailed costume. That had to be it.

But when the other teen shot a web to the top of the building they were next to and started walking up the wall, Flash could no longer deny it.

He wasn’t just _like_ Spider-Man’s bully, he _was_ Spider-Man’s bully.

Peter hadn’t really been checking up on how well the video was doing. As far as it mattered to him, it might as well not exist. Ned would sometimes talk about how many views the video got but usually right at the times when Peter wasn’t paying any attention.

The video stayed at the very back of his mind until one night on patrol.

He’d been doing some average work, stopping a mugging here, giving directions there, it’d been a relatively quiet night.

Which is when he saw _him_. It was a man sitting on the very edge of a tall building. Peter’s heart got stuck in his throat and he webbed over as quick as he could and when he got there-

“Aaron? Are you okay?” It had been that guy he saved from the gun deal gone wrong so many months ago. Peter took a seat next to him.

The man turned to look at him with a grin on his face. Not exactly what Peter expected when he confronted people about to jump off buildings, “Took you long enough, kid.”

“What’s wr-“

Aaron stood up and Peter quickly reached out to grab his leg in case he was about to jump, the man didn’t flinch, and Peter only let go when he saw the man move back a few steps. He let out a long exhale.

“Probably the wrong way to get your attention, but I had to talk to you,” he admitted.

Peter stilled, “Are Toomes’ weapons back? Do you know-“

“It’s nothing like that, it’s personal,” the man said gently, waving away his concerns. Peter walked over to stand next to him, “It’s my nephew, Miles, and before you jump to any conclusions, he’s perfectly fine.” The adult paused, thinking about his next words, “But that’s only because of you.” Peter watched in shock, and waited for the man to continue. 

“Miles had been getting bullied recently and he didn’t tell us. We only found out when his teachers called us in for a meeting with his teachers, Miles, and his bully. He only found the courage to speak up about how that other kid had been treating him because of _your_ video.” 

Peter suddenly felt floaty, the video had helped someone?

“I may or may not have told Miles I knew you, but his entire class made you a card.”

Peter could only watch dumbly as Aaron pulled a wrinkled envelope out of his back pocket, “I- Really? I had no idea-“

“We don’t have to make this a whole thing, I just wanted to thank you, Spider-Man,” Aaron said with a shrug before leaving the roof through the connecting door.

Spider-Man walked over to the edge Aaron had been sitting on not so long ago and gently opened the envelope, careful not to tear it.

Inside, like the man had said, was a handmade card. It had a drawing on it of Spider-Man and all the kids in this “Miles’” class seemed to have written him a note.

As he read through all of them, he could feel his tears get absorbed into his mask and he pulled it up to his nose so it wouldn’t get too dirty.

Peter could hardly believe that he’d made a difference in these kids’ lives. It made him feel almost euphoric.

He pinned the card to his wall the second he got home.

Flash couldn’t seem to get Peter alone. He was always with one of his dorky friends. At this rate, Flash was starting to think he’d never get to apologize.

Or maybe Peter had caught onto what he’d been doing and was purposely avoiding him. Or he was just avoiding him because Flash had been a total dick to him all of high school. The latter seemed to make more sense.

Ever since Flash had found out that the kid he bullied _was_ Spider-Man, he’d been doing a lot of thinking. He re-watched the Spider-Man video and thought a lot about _why_ he’d been bullying Parker in the first place.

It probably had to do with something like how he never felt in control of his life and how no one really wanted to listen to him but he didn’t want to go any further than that.

He had insecurity issues. So what? That didn’t make him any less of an asshole or actions any less cruel. He still had to apologize.

So, he waited, and waited, and waited for the day he could get the other boy alone.

Lo and behold, it finally happened. On a _Tuesday_ of all days, as if his Tuesdays couldn’t get any more hectic. The last bell finally rang but Flash had left his class early to make sure he could catch Parker outside of his economics class.

Ned had been missing sick that day and MJ was nowhere to be seen. But at this point, Flash knew better than to assume that meant she wasn’t here.

When Peter saw Flash leaning against the wall outside his classroom his face went pale and he turned to go back inside. Flash watched as the teacher shuffled him out.

“Parker!” He barked before backtracking, “I mean, can we talk?” he asked, tilting his head in the direction of an empty study hall as a signal for ‘not in public’

Peter either didn’t get the hint or chose to ignore it. The vigilante tugged at the end of his shirt sleeve, “What do you want Flash?” he asked. 

“Fine, we’ll do this here,” Flash looked around at the semi-crowded hallway. So what if other people heard him. He didn’t give a shit about what they thought. Or at least, he wished he didn’t.

“I’ve- I’ve been an asshole for as long as you’ve known me, and- and I want to apologize. So, there. I’m sorry, Par- Peter,” he choked out, tilting his head downward.

There was nothing but silence. When he looked back up, Peter looked frozen. And very confused.

“What?” he asked, like he hadn’t heard Flash.

“I’m sorry, okay?” Flash ground out. He didn’t exactly appreciate all the extras surrounding him but if he didn’t do this now, it would probably never happen.

Peter was pursing his lips, like he was thinking really hard, “Well, thanks, I guess.”

“Do you forgive me?” Flash asked, he felt like a child.

“I mean, not really,” Flash felt his whole face sink but Peter kept talking, “But maybe, maybe one day.”

And with that, Peter left, and Flash was all alone with his thoughts.

He was going to become a better person, no matter what it took. 

**Author's Note:**

> If you're being bullied, please seek adult help \<3  
> [bullying in america](https://www.pacer.org/bullying/resources/stats.asp)  
> check out some of my other works:  
> this is harley x peter  
> [radio silence](https://archiveofourown.org/works/22208542)  
> [Bound Together](https://archiveofourown.org/works/22283824)  
> here's some bucky and peter (not a ship!) ft. our good friend Amnesia  
> [Cold Hands, Warm Heart](https://archiveofourown.org/works/22424545)


End file.
